As we reported last week, Attorney General Eric Holder recently testified on Capitol Hill that the country needs to spend $2 million to study “smart” gun technology, as part of a $382 million expenditure on what the Obama administration calls “gun safety.”

“Smart Guns” is a made-up term for a conceptual firearm that incorporates technology that theoretically permits the gun to be fired only by the authorized user. Failed attempts to develop and market “smart guns” have been going on for years.

NRA does not oppose new technological developments in firearms; however, we are opposed to government mandates that require the use of expensive, unreliable features, such as rigging a firearm so that it could not fire unless it received an electronic signal from an electronic bracelet worn by the firearm’s lawful owner (as was brought up in Holder’s recent testimony). And NRA recognizes that the “smart guns” issue clearly has the potential to mesh with the anti-gunner’s agenda, opening the door to a ban on all guns that do not possess the government-required technology (which itself is susceptible to abuse, including the remote tracking and disabling of firearms).

This week, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) sent a letter to AG Holder demanding answers about the intent of the Justice Department’s exploration of this “smart” gun technology.

The letter said, in part, “Your testimony has raised serious concerns for my constituents given President Obama’s track-record of acting beyond the scope of his legal authority and your hostility to the individual right to self-defense under the Second Amendment.”